The Syrian civil war has hindered the production of oil and gas fields in Iraq, according to Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Energy issues, Hussain Al-Shahristani. During a conference in London, Al-Shahristani explained that: “The Syrian conflict has attracted hundreds of terrorists to the region who use the vast...

Amal Karbul, the minister of tourism in the new Tunisian government, headed by Mehdi Gomaa, has resigned from the government before officially starting her new role after being accused of “normalization with Israel.” Immediately after been sworn in before the interim Tunisian President Moncef el-Marzouki, on Wednesday, Ms Karbul...

Former Welsh Secretary and Middle East minister Peter Hain is tonight set to make a speech at Swansea University where he will claim that a one-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians is “back on the agenda”. According to a report in Wales Online, Hain will not explicitly endorse...

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has announced its support for Malaysia’s candidacy to occupy Asia’s non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for 2015 and 2016. Kuwait’s diplomatic attaché at the UN, Alyaa Abdullah Al-Muzaini, announced support for Malaysia’s bid on behalf of the GCC during the Asian group’s...

The Egyptian Public Prosecutor has referred 20 Al-Jazeera journalists to the criminal court for “aiding a terrorist group” and related charges. Four of the defendants are non-Egyptian citizens, including an Australian, a Canadian, a Briton and a Dutch woman; only eight are in custody, while the others remain at...

Diplomatic sources have said that the African Union has refused Egypt’s request to join the organisation’s Peace and Security Council summit which started in Addis Ababa on Wednesday. The anonymous sources revealed that Egypt’s Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs, Hamdi Sanad Loza, submitted an official request to join...

The General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, has told a court in Cairo that the movement will not resort to using violence. Speaking from the cage in which he and his fellow defendants are held during their trial, Badie insisted that it is the members of the...

The European Union Ambassador to Jordan, Joanna Wronecka, said on Wednesday that the EU recognises the country’s vital role in supporting Syrian refugees and is “committed to help” the government respond to the crisis. Refugees make up almost 10 per cent of the kingdom’s total population. “The EU recognises...

A large number of illegal Jewish settlers entered the occupied West Bank city of Nablus under heavy military guard on Tuesday night and performed religious rituals in a tomb which they claim is that of Prophet Yusuf, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency has reported. Witnesses said that Palestinian youth hurled...

Senior Muslim scholar Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has called upon Saudi Arabia to stop subsidising the military coup in Egypt. He said that the government in Riyadh “committed a mistake” when it decided to support the coup, “which has been crushing Egyptians” since July last year. “It is a strange...

On Wednesday, the Israeli judiciary will address two cases concerning the fate of the separation wall in two southern towns in the occupied West Bank. The first is Battir, famous for its ancient and unique irrigation system dating back to the Roman era; and the second is the Cremsian...

A spokesperson for the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday that the Algerian ambassador in Rabat had been summoned to hear an official protest about his country’s alleged deportation of Syrian refugees across the border to Morocco. “The Moroccan authorities have repeatedly recorded the Algerian...

Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency has issued its annual terrorism report, finding that Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank increased remarkably in 2013. Israel Today newspaper reported on Tuesday that according to the report, “the settlers carried out 25 vandalism attacks against the Palestinians in...

It appears that Israeli gas will be the most likely alternative supply for large Jordanian institutions, including the mining and energy companies, in the coming phase. Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Nsor has announced that Albotas, one of Jordan’s leading companies, had already obtained the necessary approval to import gas from...

An unmanned aviation vehicle (UAV) belonging to the Israel Defence Forces crashed on Wednesday morning to the east of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Witnesses told local media that the drone was flying close to the border near Israel’s Al-Motabaq Military Base. Wreckage from the aircraft was picked up...

The International Quartet envoy to the peace process, Tony Blair, has arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for a short visit that will last only a few hours. Egyptian sources said that Britain’s former Prime Minister will meet with a number of Egyptian officials to discuss the latest developments in...

The Cairo Criminal Court has accused more than 100 people of helping ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi escape from prison in 2011 during the January revolution. Several Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are among the accused, including some who were killed and others imprisoned by the Israeli occupation several...

Iraqi parliamentarians have accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki of imposing an information blackout on the army’s on-going military operations in the cities of Al-Anbar Governorate. The fighting has created a difficult humanitarian situation in western Iraq. Last month, the government’s bloody raid of a protest camp and arrest...

The strict Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, which has now been imposed for seven years, is badly affecting all aspects of life for the Palestinian residents of Gaza. Many industries have stopped functioning, leaving most people without work; hence, most families do not have an income. There is...

South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim told the participants of a symposium that: “Whether we like Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood or not, the group has shown us how deeply their members value democracy and that they want their country to progress abiding by ...

An Israeli ministerial council will convene on Wednesday to discuss Israel’s growing fears of future European boycotts over the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, this is the first time the Israeli government is seriously debating “strategies to counter European boycotts”. Haaretz reported...

The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, has announced his support for Shmuel Eliyahu, currently the chief rabbi of Safed, as chief rabbi of Jerusalem. Eliyahu is well known for his radical views against the Palestinians. He promotes prohibiting Jews from leasing or selling properties to Palestinian students in Safed...

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper has reported that a settlement group has started to plan a construction project in the city of Jaffa that will cater exclusively for Jews. The project is part of the group’s efforts to Judaise the traditionally Arab city. The group intends to build 12 housing units...

The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has denied the claims by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) that the movement endorses the two-state solution. An official in the movement said on Monday that, “Abbas’s frequent statements that Hamas has mandated him to negotiate the establishment of a future Palestinian...

The Working Group for Palestinians in Syria has called upon representatives of the Syrian regime and the opposition meeting in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations to release the Palestinians being held by both sides of the conflict. Nearly four hundred Palestinian refugees are being detained in...

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Monday that his government will allow 120 Fatah members to return to the Gaza Strip in order to push the reconciliation process forward. “The reconciliation file is moving forward in the presence of the convergence of wills, in both the Gaza Strip and...

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon made use of the annual day to commemorate the Holocaust, which fell on Monday, to criticise the Palestinian Authority (PA), accusing it of practicing incitement against Israel at a time when it claims that it is seeking peace. He called on the PA to...

The Jordanian authorities denied entry to thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria during 2013, Human Rights Watch has alleged. Most were either Palestinian or Iraqi, single, military-age men and people without identity documents. The organisation said in its World Report 2014 that this is a clear violation...

Egyptians for Democracy UK (EDUK) are shocked by the Egyptian Military Council’s statement on Monday January 27, which promoted General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to field marshal and mandated his bid for presidency. The EDUK considers this to be another blow to the path of the January 25 Revolution which...

Egypt will hold ten political trials on Tuesday, which marks the third anniversary of the events surrounding 28th January 2011, dubbed the “Friday of Anger”, while the Anti-Coup Pro-Legitimacy Alliance is staging massive nationwide protests against the July 2013 military overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, calling for the restoration...

Israel Hayom newspaper reported on Monday that 134 out of 435 members of Congress have signed a letter criticising the American Studies Association’s (ASA) decision last month to boycott Israel’s academic institutions. The effort was spearheaded by Illinois Republican Peter Roskam, Florida Democrat Ted Deutch, Georgia Republican Doug Collins,...

Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour has promoted Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to the rank of field marshal, according to reports on state television on Monday. Other media reports clam that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) will meet to discuss Al-Sisi’s candidacy for the upcoming...

Israel’s chief negotiator has said that the aim of the peace talks is to serve Israel’s interests, not the Palestinians’ or America’s. “The peace negotiations with the Palestinians do not aim to unmask their real intentions,” said Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, referring to remarks by a source within Prime...

Former Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer revealed on Monday evening that Israel is encouraging Egyptian Defence Minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to run for the presidency, even though the occupation authorities are also afraid of his failure later on.   Speaking to Israeli radio, Ben-Eliezer explained that: “Al-Sisi’s nomination for...

Human Rights Watch has called upon the Yemeni government to create a commission of inquiry to investigate the gross violations of human rights by the former regime and to prosecute those responsible.” The New York-based watchdog said in the group’s World Report for 2014 on Monday that the Yemenis...

US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel phoned Egypt’s Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Monday to discuss Egypt’s political transition and to emphasise the strong relationship between the US and Egypt in light of the “recent terrorist attacks” against Egyptian targets, a Pentagon spokesperson announced. Hagel currently serves...

The trial of Egypt’s ousted president Mohammed Morsi, along with 129 defendants began today on charges of “prison escape” during the 2011 revolution that toppled long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak. Morsi was transferred by helicopter from his Borg Al-Arab prison in Alexandria to the court in eastern Cairo, the state...

The Chairman of the Palestine Committee in the Jordanian Parliament, Yahya al-Saud MP has urged the Jordanian government to reveal the details of the peace plan proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, which aims at reaching a final solution to the Palestinian issue. Saud criticized his government’s...

Over 2000 BBC viewers and listeners have contacted the BBC to urge it not to award G4S with a security contract worth £80 million. G4S services Israeli prisons to which Palestinian prisoners are illegally transferred in serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and also, in the case of...

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that the bloodshed has not stopped in Syria for the fourth day since the beginning of the peace conference in Geneva, as the regime’s forces continued shelling residential neighborhoods with rockets explosive barrels, while torture detention centers has not stopped.  ...

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani claimed on Monday that the major problem facing the Middle East region is terrorism and not Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s government. Rouhani told CNN television on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that, “Everyone, including Western governments, knows well that the most...

British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will both visit the Middle East region in February to pressure Israel and the Palestinians to move forward with the peace talks, Western diplomats have revealed. The diplomatic sources said that US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit...

Israeli aircrafts attacked on Sunday night a Syrian arsenal near the seaport in Latakia, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported citing Lebanese and Palestinian media. The newspaper attributed the information to a website affiliated to the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party led by Samir Geagea. The website noted that massive...

The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has refuted claims of a possible reconciliation with former Fatah member Mohamed Dahlan and urged the Palestinian public not to believe everything they hear in the media. Palestinian media, including Hamas affiliated media channels, had claimed that there were efforts to reconcile Hamas in...

In August 2013, the occupation forces carried out one of their regular demolition raids on the historic Jerusalem village of Silwan. During the raid they demolished Khalid Zueer’s house and the neighbouring house of his brother. Underneath their house was a small cave and left with no other way...

The Zionist Immigration Authority, affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Interior, has started to transfer hundreds of African migrants from the city of Tal Rabei’ to the new Holot detention centre in the Negev desert, specifically constructed to detain the migrants. Israeli media report that hundreds of occupation soldiers...

Britain’s Minister for the Middle East, Hugh Robertson, condemned the violence that took place in Egypt on the third anniversary of the 25 January revolution. In a statement published on the FCO’s website, Robertson said: “The UK condemns the large-scale violence in Cairo and other parts of Egypt on...

Interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour announced on Sunday modifications to the so-called roadmap imposed on the country in the wake of the coup which ousted democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi in July last year. “I have decided to modify the roadmap,” said Mansour. “We are to start with the presidential...

Israeli media reported on Monday that senior Israeli officials are severely critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion to accept for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank to remain inside any potential Palestinian state. According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu’s statement is creating a rift between...

Fatah veterans in Amman have refused to comply with an order from Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to close the PLO office in the Jordanian capital. The Palestine Affairs office in Amman and the Palestine Political Affairs office in Tunis are the last PLO headquarters in the Arab world. Fatah...